title: Detectability gradients as a function of target location.
abstract: We examined the ability to detect a specified visual pattern (a target) in a randomly selected location when it was briefly presented with 11 other spatially distributed nontarget patterns and also when it was presented by itself for the same duration (50 msec) on a background of visual noise. Two experiments were designed to measure target detectability as a function of its location in the visual field where all possible target locations were equidistant from the fovea. A right visual field detection superiority was obtained in both experiments. In addition, highly significant detectability differences were observed within the right and left visual fields in both experiments. The origin of these detectability differences are interpreted in terms of parallel and serial processing mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Neurophysiology-Biophysics Research Laboratory, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Martinez, California 94553.
authors.forename: E W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Yund
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Efron
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Nichols
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D012016:Reference Values; D014794:Visual Fields